Counting Stars
by It Slowly Faded Away
Summary: What if on the night of Halloween 1981 one man had made a different choice? This one change, would not only change his and Harry Potter's life but the whole wizarding world's. But when the truth comes out, how will the world react? How will Harry react?


**A/N: OK so this story takes place from third year to the end of fourth year. It is slightly AU but rest assured canon events happen/ed like the Stone and Chamber but that will be explained more in depth through the story. This story revolves completely around the choice of one man that causes all these events to happen.**

**Disclaimer(I will only do this once): I don't own Harry Potter, nor am I making any profit off of this story. If you recognize it, it is most likely not mine. If you recognize something from another fanfic I apologize, its not my intention.**

**Read and review.**

**Chapter 1: The End**

Sirius Black stood in front of the Potter's home in Godrics Hollow. In his hands was all that mattered to him, all that he had left: his godson, Harry, was wrapped in a large, fluffy, light blue blanket that had a large, white H on it in its lower right hand corner. Harry was cooing quietly as he looked up at Sirius with his bright green eyes.

_Lily's eyes._

The thought made an uncomfortable lump form at the base of his throat, forbidding him to swallow and breathe properly. Tears freely formed at the edges of his eyes before rolling down his cheeks in wet, hot trails. Sobs hitched in his throat as his shoulders shook, coming out instead as a strange, gargled noise.

They were gone. He would never see them again. Lily, no longer would he see her laughing, throwing back her sheet of curly, red hair. He would never see her green eyes light up like fire as she screamed at him, flinging minor hexes the whole time. Oh how he would give anything to see her again.

Then there was James. That, more than anything, hurt the most. He had lost his best friend, his _brother__. _James was the one who was always there to listen, no matter how stupid it was or even what time of day it was. With James it never mattered, if you needed him he was there. And now, when James had needed him most, he had failed. His best friend was gone and it was his fault. James would never be coming back.

"Sirius?" A deep voice spoke into the night, startling Sirius.

In a flash, his wand was out, pointed directly in front of him, as he moved Harry slightly to one arm. Harry, however, didn't seem to mind.

There stood Hagrid in his characteristic heavy, brown coat. The giant had a mask of pain and sorrow as he stared up at the demolished house then back at little Harry. Poor baby Harry, an orphan.

He hadn't noticed the half giant approaching, but he didn't bother to check if it was Hagrid for no one could impersonate or imperiused a wizard with giant blood. His lack of attention showed how messed up he was. Not noticing Hagrid who was exactly quiet, he a full trained auror in the brisk of a war should have noticed.

_We're not a war anymore,_ he thought bitterly. He had seen the lightning bolt scar that Harry bore in his forehead, the very scar that was the only evidence of a killing curse. He had seen that scar on the many pale, cold bodies of the dead to have it memorized. He had seen both the damage the rebounded curse had done as well as the silky, black rode that lay limply on the floor of the burning nursery. Voldemort was gone for now, that was certain.

"Hagrid," he said, struggling to control his emotions from his voice "I didn't notice you."

"'S alright," mumbled Hagrid, his eyes were glued onto the house, watching as it slowly began to burn, the fire spreading due to the giant whole in the ceiling and the side of the house.

"What brings you here?"

"Dumbledore sent me ter fetch Harry. Bring him to his relatives." Hagrid replied, still watching the bright red flames.

Sirius felt his arms tighten around Harry as he realized who Hagrid meant, there was only 1 option. He couldn't let him have him, not Harry, not his precious godson. Not the boy that he loved so much, that was the only thing left of Lily and James.

"You're not taking him." He said firmly, the first real reaction he had had since he had arrived. Over crying, he would rather be angry and determined.

"Sirius," pleaded the half giant, finally turning away from the house "Dumbledore said it's the best place for 'im, something 'bout blood protection."

His senses immediately became alert as Hagrid's words registered. How did Dumbledore know about Lily's sacrifice? He had seen Lily's prone body in front of the cot, he knew what it meant as soon as he had seen it. But how did Dumbledore? The aged headmaster hadn't been to Godrics Hollow, that he was certain of. It definitely rose suspicion.

"You can't take him,"he repeated "Petunia hates magic, she'll hate him. He would never be safe there with her family."

"Sirius, think 'bout Harry. He'll be safe there from Death Eaters, plus Dumbledore'll keep an eye on 'im. 'Sides ya can always talk to Dumbledore 'bout it."

Sirius looked down at Harry. The fifteen-month old baby (exactly) stared innocently up at him. Tears were lining the brim of his eyes, dried trails littered his cheeks, no doubt from the pain he must be in. The wind was whipping at his messy, jet-black hair, causing it to move slightly. Hair, that was just like James's.

The thought of James made the image of Peter to appear at the forefront of his thoughts. _That rat! _He was suddenly filled with rage as his eyes became an angry red of anger as he thought of Wormtail, the man who had betrayed them. The rat,who caused Lily and James to die, who made Harry alone.

He looked once more down at his godson, running a hand through the boy's dark locks. He had to do this, to avenge his parents.

"Alright," He carefully passed Harry over into Hagrid's arms, the boy jostling slightly at the change of position. Nevertheless, he remained slightly.

"Take my bike, I won't be needing it." He said, his gray eyes staring at Harry.

Hagrid said something but the words didn't register. All he could think about at the moment was his ex-best friend's betrayal.

He had something to do.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Hagrid and Sirius, a tall, lanky man stood behind some nearby bushes that concealed his presence. He had his hood pulled up over his head, covering his face in shadows. While the two men had been conversing, he had stood by in the protection of the night, listening. Waiting.

His master had made him come along as an extra precaution, given the instructions to kill anyone that tried to enter the house and interrupt his task. When the explosion had gone off, he had known immediately what had happened. As soon as it occurred, an intense pain had bufned his forearm, right where the Mark was. When he had rolled up his sleeve he saw it: the Dark Mark slowly fading away. Upon realizing that the Potter brat had survived, his master was gone, he had contemplated leaving. Then Black had arrived and then came that oaf Hagrid.

_So the boy will be at his muggle aunt's house, _he thought with disgust. It was a well known fact that all of James Potter's remaining family was dead as well as Lily Evans Potter with the exception of her sister and her family, who wanted nothing to do with the wizarding world. Why wizards thought it was OK to affiliate themselves with muggles was beyond him. The mere thought of the dirty creatures made him want to spat.

He had two options: one, he could leave and tell his fellow Death Eaters about the events of the night. It wasn't like he could kill the brat in revenge, there were two witnesses, one being an auror, the other a half giant that was hard to knock down; two, he could play his cards right.

He knew where Potter was going, nothing could stop him from getting to the boy. Blood wards relied on many specifics and could always be disassembled. The muggles wouldn't be a problem at all, nuisance, yes, but not a problem. Besides, the story would get out eventually. Probably by that blasted old fool.

But how did he trick the boy into trusting him? He couldn't just put the plan that was forming in his head to action immediately, it had to be perfectly executed without hitch. That meant he couldn't go after the filthy halfblood just yet, he'd have to wait until it was older. The blasted mudblood spawn would no doubt know not to trust him, stranger danger and all that, plus he _was _a Death Eater. The boy would definitely not trust him. So how did he go about it?

Then it hit him. A long time ago, when he was a newer, lower ranked Death Eater, he had learned an ancient, complex ritual. This ritual allowed him to take the identity of anyone he chose. It let him look and sound like the person, though his blood was still his own so he would have to avoid any blood tests or ceremonies that could have him discovered. All the ritual required would be a sample of the person's hair, similar to that of the polyjuice potion. Unlike the polyjuice potion though, the ritual allowed him to keep the identity, regardless of time. The only way the ritual would ware off was if he were to admit who he really truly was. This was because the ritual would leave a small tattoo on him, the tattoo held a form of magic that upon the admission of his true name would immediately began to remove the effects from his body.

So he would have to stay completely hidden if he were to succeed in his plan. Especially seeing as how the person he had in mind was dead. That would definitely cause people to raise questions, questions that he really didn't need.

He cast a final glance at the Potter boy. The brat was in the giant man's arms, the pair was sitting on Black's motorbike preparing to take off. Black himself stood off to the side, watching the pair, a strange look on his face. He was no doubt planning to seek out Pettigrew, if he didn't have a plan himself he would join him. Pettigrew was nothing but a traitor, he was the reason that Black's friends were dead and that their master was dead. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, he had something to do.

With that thought in mind, he made his way into the ruined house in search of James Potter's body. For once, the blood traitor would be useful.

**A/N: please review, also there is a thing I'm doing. The title of each chapter is a song, first person to guess right will get a personal shout out and may ask any question in regards to the plot which I will PM them the answer to.**


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